Copyright, Registered and Trademark Symbols

What the three marks say

The three marks do different jobs and are not interchangeable. This page gives general information about what each symbol is understood to signal. It is not legal advice, and the law differs by country, so an issue that matters should go to a qualified professional.

© is normally written with the year of first publication and the owner’s name, as in © 2026 Example Ltd. ℗ plays the same role for sound recordings and appears on music releases. ℠ is rare. It is the same idea as ™ for services, and most businesses simply use ™ for both.

Why ® is the one to be careful with

A trademark can be claimed without a registration in many places, which is what ™ is for. ® is different: it states that the mark is registered, and in many countries it is improper to use ® on a mark that is not registered in that country. Some places treat misuse as misleading. The rule varies by jurisdiction, and a mark registered in one country may not be registered in another, so a global website may need to think about where ® is accurate. When unsure, use ™ or leave the mark off and ask a lawyer.

Is a copyright notice required?

Not in the way many people assume. Under the Berne Convention, which most countries follow, copyright generally arises when a work is created, without registration or notice. The United States stopped requiring a notice for new works in 1989 when it joined Berne. A notice such as © 2026 Name still has practical value, since it tells readers who to contact and signals that the owner cares, and in some countries it affects what a court may consider when someone says they did not know a work was protected. Details vary, and this is the kind of point where local advice is useful.

The US Copyright Office describes a notice as made up of the © symbol, or the word “Copyright” or the abbreviation “Copr.”, plus the year and the owner’s name. The text form “(c)” is not on that list, which is a reason to use the real symbol where it matters.

Typed forms that autocorrect

Plenty of people type (c), (r) and (tm). Word, Google Docs and many phones convert them automatically to ©, ® and ™. That convenience has a side effect: if you type “(r)” in a list, such as “(r) red”, the program may replace it with ®. Check autocorrect settings if the symbols appear where you did not intend them. In plain text fields that do not autocorrect, such as many social media bios, the typed form stays as typed.

Circled lookalikes and licence marks

The second group contains characters that resemble the legal marks. Ⓒ (CIRCLED LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C) and Ⓡ are letters in a circle, which are not the legal symbols even though they look similar. They are different characters, a search for © will not find Ⓒ, and screen readers announce them as “circled Latin capital letter C”. If you want the real symbol, use ©.

The licence marks at the end of that group are newer. 🄯 (COPYLEFT SYMBOL) is a reversed C, used to indicate copyleft licensing. 🅭 (CIRCLED CC) stands for Creative Commons, and 🅯 (CIRCLED HUMAN FIGURE) is used in the attribution icon. They were added in Unicode 11 and 13, so older devices may show boxes. Where they matter, Creative Commons provides official icon images, and an image is more reliable.

How to type them

1. Windows Alt codes. Hold Alt and type 0169 for ©, 0174 for ®, and 0153 for ™ on the numeric keypad.
2. Mac, US layout. Option and G for ©, Option and R for ®, Option and 2 for ™.
3. Word. Type (c), (r) or (tm) and let autocorrect convert them. Or type 00A9, 00AE or 2122 and press Alt then X.
4. HTML. © ® ™
5. iPhone and Android. Long-press a key on the symbols keyboard; © ® and ™ are typically available there, though the exact location depends on the keyboard.

Superscript and size

In print, ® and ™ are usually set as small, raised marks next to a name. ™ is already a small, raised glyph in most fonts. ® is often smaller, but you may need a font setting or a superscript style to match. Do not fake it with the lettered forms ᵀᴹ, which are different characters (MODIFIER LETTER capital T and M) and not the trade mark sign. Search engines and screen readers see them as letters.

Accessibility

Screen readers say “copyright”, “registered” and “trademark”, which suits the context. Do not use styled letters or circled versions in their place, because they are announced as a long name. The fancy text accessibility guide explains why. If you want to set the mark beside a styled name in a bio, put the plain mark after the name. For other utility characters, see currency symbols and degree symbols.